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The answers to the Pens problems are easy to diagnose but unfortunetly are going to be difficult to remedy. First and for most, Martin needs to go. I do like the idea of a trade for Volchenkov, however, having said that, I think in the long run it would benefit the team more to trade Martin for a draft pick instead of another player. The 5 million that would be cleared up by Martin's departure could be used in other ways. Such as, extending Crosby, Staal, Malkin, Letang etc... Or it could be used to add a much needed pure winger. Not a center playing a winger but an honest to goodness winger. I think every Pens fan would agree with me on that. But the fact still remains with Martin on the roster eating up alot of salary cap space none of the above mentioned is going to happen. So, priority number one for Shero should be atoning for his mistake and sending Paul Martin packing.

Second problem the Pens face is there lack of a gritty attitude. With the loss of both Talbot and Rupp the team in my opinion became somewhat soft. I think instead of spending mounds of cash on high priced D-men, like alot of you are in favor of, the Pens should look into acquiring one or two rough and tough but yet responsible forwards. Such as, Dominic Moore, Travis Moen, P.A. Parenteau etc... There should be a surplus of those kind of players this year available in free agency. I think the Pens would benefit greatly by taking that route instead of gutting there defense. Lets not forget that when it comes to defense, the Pens have drafted very well and have put themselves in a good position defensively moving forward. For those of you who are not aware, the Pens have some stud defensemen in the minors. So whatever short comings they have on defense now, will soon be fixed via internal options.

Last but most certainly not least, locking up Staal. I'm not concerned about Crosby's contract. There is no doubt in my mind that Sid will remian a Penguin after the 2012/13 season. But Staal on the other hand makes me nervious. A few of you have mentioned trading him and I can't for the life in me figure out why any Pens fan would even consider that. Staal has been the most responsible 2-way player on the roster. His offensive ability showed huge strides this past season. His defensive ability is better than most actual defensemen. And his play on special teams is the best in the league and getting better each season. So to me the idea of trading Staal is border line insanity. Hopefully Shero is as good of a general manager as what I think he is and he will find some way to keep Staalsy around for a long time.

I would say most people are talking about moving Staal because most people assume it will be to costly to keep our current three center system. Sid is a given, and in most peoples minds you keep Malkin over Staal. Move Staal during the last year of his contact to get a player or two for a couple years as opposed to one year and nothing when he likely gets more cash than Pitt can pay.

Schism is correct we all would like to keep the big three; however we may not be able to keep all three. Also since the playoff series I feel Staal has a lot of value to other teams, the Penguins may choose to trade Malkin instead based on the money they will save. I think this is unlikely though so I could see us trying to make a big move unloading Staal. Also Miller3512 based on your Martin for a pick, we are all for it! I believe no one would trade a pick for Martin based on his salary though, which is why we would have to take on a similar salary if we were to trade Paul Martin.

[QUOTE=Miller3512;21904555]The answers to the Pens problems are easy to diagnose but unfortunetly are going to be difficult to remedy. First and for most, Martin needs to go. I do like the idea of a trade for Volchenkov, however, having said that, I think in the long run it would benefit the team more to trade Martin for a draft pick instead of another player. The 5 million that would be cleared up by Martin's departure could be used in other ways. Such as, extending Crosby, Staal, Malkin, Letang etc... Or it could be used to add a much needed pure winger. Not a center playing a winger but an honest to goodness winger. I think every Pens fan would agree with me on that. But the fact still remains with Martin on the roster eating up alot of salary cap space none of the above mentioned is going to happen. So, priority number one for Shero should be atoning for his mistake and sending Paul Martin packing.

I totally agree with you that Paul Martin needs to go. That experiment was a major bust. I dont think NJD would want to take Martin back for Volchenkov. I would like the pens to trade him tho even if its just to make some cap room. Then I would like us to sign a guy like Ryan Suter. A great defenseman who is fairly young. He can play both ends of the ice very well. Also the Pens need to part ways with Brooks Orpik. He just looks slow out there and he isnt the guy he used to be. He used to be a guy who could spark our team with a big hit but now he is too slow and can't keep up to the good skaters. Some solid defensive defenseman would be guys like Bruno Gervais, Chris Campoli. Derek Engyland can definetely step into Brooks' role. I think he is better defensively than Brooks is now.
As for wingers for cheap we could get would be a guy like Dustin Penner. I know he can be lazy but he has proven that he can play with some of the top players in the league and produce points. He won a cup playing on a line with Getzlaf and Perry. Also he is playing pretty well with Richards and Carter in LA. Also he had a career year in Edmonton with sub par players so imagine playing with the best in the league. Also he is big and pretty strong on the puck so he might play well with Sid. Also he would sign for cheap if the right team made an offer.

We can not trade Geno. If Crosby goes down again with another concussion we need him to be the on ice leader. I know we dont want to think about Sid going down again but we have to be realistic. Another big hit to his head it might be game over for him. I dont think Jordy has the offensive power and constitancy to be our #1 guy.
A guy like Ray Whitney would be a great guy to have on the Pens roster. He might be a little pricey to bring him in. I would also really like to get a guy like Travis Moen. Lots of experience and he is a great shut down guy. Would be great on the 3rd or 4th line.
Obviously Shero is going to sound like he is going to keep the roster as is. He doesnt want to tip his hand to anyone and doesnt want to cause issues in the locker room.
Also why wouldnt Suter be a possibility in Pittsburgh? You know Nashville is going to try and lock down Shea Weber to a long term deal. Why wouldnt a young talented guy want to come to a team who can almost guarantee to be a cup contender every year?

We don't have the cap space to sign Suter, unless we trade Martin, which is unlikely. We don't need any more wingers, we need big D. I'd rather get Weber than Suter, but i'd be fine with either. I still like the idea of Volechankov more than either of them

I won't lie when I read about Shero talking about not being able to keep the big three at center, I believe this offseason will be the one where we lose either Geno or Staal. I do see us making at least an offer for Suter and Weber if either one hits the market based on Shero's past with Nashville. I can see both Martin and Michalek not coming back next year and possibly even Orpik based on age performance and cost. I doubt Orpik gets traded though. I do however see Martin and Michalek being traded saving us 9 million in space. with that space we could manage to bring in a Suter and keep up Simon Despres and Brian Strait next year. I believe we will want to get a lot stronger on D this offseason and we will try to find players like Rolston, Langenbrunner, and Souray who are veterans who would probably take less money to play for a chance for the cup. I could see Moen coming to Pen's to add some grit as well, but other than Suter I don't see any big moves by Penguins unless of course we are trading Malkin or Staal

I won't lie when I read about Shero talking about not being able to keep the big three at center, I believe this offseason will be the one where we lose either Geno or Staal. I do see us making at least an offer for Suter and Weber if either one hits the market based on Shero's past with Nashville. I can see both Martin and Michalek not coming back next year and possibly even Orpik based on age performance and cost. I doubt Orpik gets traded though. I do however see Martin and Michalek being traded saving us 9 million in space. with that space we could manage to bring in a Suter and keep up Simon Despres and Brian Strait next year. I believe we will want to get a lot stronger on D this offseason and we will try to find players like Rolston, Langenbrunner, and Souray who are veterans who would probably take less money to play for a chance for the cup. I could see Moen coming to Pen's to add some grit as well, but other than Suter I don't see any big moves by Penguins unless of course we are trading Malkin or Staal

Yeah I don't see Shero trading both Martin and Big Z. Big Z is good. He can still block a ton of shots and he isnt a defensive liability when he is out there. Obviously his cap number im not in favour of but I dont see Shero trading both guys who he made a big splash with a couple of years ago.
As another veteran to add to the list would be Ray Whitney. He voiced his interest in coming to pittsburgh a couple of years ago I just dont think we had the money to offer to him. But now after he signed his big deal in Phoenix he might take a pay cut to come to the Pens. I don't think Geno or Stallsy are going anywhere. It would be outright dumb to trade either of them away.

I think part of the reason Michalek appeared bad was because he was playing with Martin the majority of the time. I don't mean to dump the entire blame on Martin because that would be inaccurate and unfair but I would bet that if Michalek were playing with a more defensive defenseman, his game would not have been maligned as much

After searching the rumor mill for a bit this morning I found some teams which are looking for scoring and a top 2 line center and defense help.
These teams include:
Center:
Anaheim, Winnipeg, and Toronto